The Dentsu Rise Up Challenge calls upon Sri Lanka’s youth to address food wastage through creativity

A whopping 725 tons of food is wasted in the Western Province every day in Sri Lanka. This is a worldwide issue and not just a local problem. Dentsu Grant Sri Lanka in line with Dentsu’s global initiative ” The Rise Up Challenge’, is launching an unique competition to address the global issue of food wastage.

It is a creative and innovative challenge for youth between the ages of 17-27 to test their creativity to come up with innovative solutions to tackle this problem and win exciting gifts for their creativity in finding solutions. The Rise Up Challenge aims to reverse this alarming statistic at a critical time when our nation is battling a severe economic crisis that has rendered nutritious food out of the reach of many vulnerable communities especially children.

Commenting on the unique initiative, Neela Marikkar, Chairperson, Dentsu Grant Group said, “As catalysts of change, our industry must accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and inclusive world through the influence we wield as leading communications experts. The Global Rise Up Challenge aims to mobilize young people in Sri Lanka and around the world to get actively involved in shaping the world they live in. We are delighted to launch the Rise Up Challenge in Sri Lanka for the first time, bringing this opportunity to our youth to work on the theme -combating food waste- that is so crucial to our country right now”

“We are hopeful that this meaningful campaign will bring about social change, as well as attract future talent to the industry, and to dentsu, where we use creativity for the benefit of our society and our environment” she further added.

According to the UN Food Waste Index 2021, the per capita food waste in Sri Lanka is 76 kilograms annually. While expecting a food shortage, Sri Lanka’s total daily waste collection in the Western Province alone is 1300 tonnes, of which 725 tonnes is food waste mainly from households, restaurants and the meat and vegetable markets. Combatting food waste in Sri Lanka could be tackled better with creative and innovative solutions which the Rise Up Challenge aims to achieve.